Kinematics

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is a vector?
a. area b. volume c. density d. force
2. The displacement of an object from a fixed point is the distance moved by the object
a. in a particular interval of time b. in a particular direction c. at a constant speed
d. at a constant velocity
3. A car accelerates from rest at 5ms-2 for 0.5 minute. The final velocity of the car is
a. 150ms-1 b. 5.5ms-1 c. 10ms-1 d. 2.5ms-1
4. When the brakes of a bicycle were applied, the bicycle was brought to rest from 4ms-1 in 2
minutes. What is the acceleration of the bicycle?
a. -1/30 ms-2 b. 1/30 ms-2 c. -2ms-2 d. 2ms-2
5. A free falling object is said to be in linear motion. This is because the object is falling
a. due to its weight b. at constant velocity c. at constant acceleration d. in one direction
6. An object has been falling freely from rest for 3 s. The maximum velocity of the object is
a. 30ms-1 b. 3.3ms-1 c. 10ms-1 d. 13ms-1
7. A body is moving in a circle at a constant speed. Which of the following statements about the
body is true?
a. There is no acceleration b. There is no force acting on it c. There is force acting at a
tangent to the circle d. There is force acting towards the centre of the circle
e. There is force acting away from the centre of the circle
8. What must change when a body is accelerating?
a. the force acting on the body b. mass of the body c. speed of the body d. velocity of
the body
9. The velocity of a car which is decelerating uniformly changes from 30m/s to 15m/s in 3.3s and
covers a distance of 75m. After what further distance will the car finally come to rest?
a. 25m b. 37.5m c. 50m d. 75m
10. A ball is thrown vertically upwards into the air with an initial velocity of 5.0m/s. It takes 2.0s
to reach the maximum height where it comes to rest momentarily. What is the acceleration of the
ball at the maximum height of its path?
a. 0m/s2 b. -2.5m/s2 c. -10m/s2 d. 12.5m/s2
11. A tow truck pulls a broken down car of mass 1000kg and moves at a constant velocity of
9m/s along a horizontal road. It is known that the frictional force acting on the car is 500N. Find
the tension in the cable connecting the truck and the car.
a. 0N b. 500N c. 9000N d. 10500N
12. A trolley runs down a slope with constant acceleration a due to a forward force F acting on it
in a direction along the slope. This force F is proportional to its mass. The mass of the trolley is
now doubled and the trolley is allowed to run down the same slope. In both cases, effects of
friction and air resistance are negligible. Which statement is correct for the second experiment?
a. The acceleration is 10 a b. The acceleration is -0.5 a c. The acceleration is a d. The
acceleration is 2 a
13. A motorcycle starts from rest on a straight road and reaches a velocity of 25ms-1 after 5.0s.
What is its average acceleration in that time?
a. 5.0ms-2 b. 25ms-2 c. 125ms-2 d. 250ms-2
MCQ Answers
1. d 9. a
2. b 10. c
3. a 11. b
4. a 12. c
5. c 13. a
6. a
7. d
8. d
1. An object moves at a constant speed of 6 m/s. This means that the object:
A. Increases its speed by 6 m/s every second
B. Decreases its speed by 6 m/s every second
C. Doesn’t move
D. Has a positive acceleration
E. Moves 6 meters every second

2. A toy car moves 8 m in 4 s at the constant velocity. What is the car’s velocity?
A. 1 m/s B. 2 m/s C. 3 m/s D. 4 m/s E. 5 m/s

3. A train moves at a constant velocity of 50 km/h. How far will it move in 0.5 h?
A. 10 km B. 20 km C. 25 km D. 45 km E. 50 km

4. A boat can move at a constant velocity of 8 km/h in still water. How long will it take for the boat to move 24 km?
A. 2 h B. 3 h C. 4 h D. 6 h E. 8 h

5. A snapshot of three racing cars is shown on the diagram. All three cars start the race at the same time, at the
same place and move along a straight track. As they approach the finish line, which car has the lowest average
speed?
A. Car I
B. Car II
C. Car III
D. All three cars have the same average speed
E. More information is required

6. A bicyclist moves at a constant speed of 4 m/s. How long it will take for the bicyclist to move 36 m?
A. 3 s B. 6 s B. 12 s D. 9 s E. 18 s

The graph represents the relationship between velocity and time for an object moving in a straight line. Use this
graph to answer questions 7 and 8.
7. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The object speeds up
B. The object slows down
C. The object moves with a constant velocity
D. The object stays at rest
E. The object is in free fall

8. What is the velocity of the object at 5 s?

A. 1 m/s B. 2 m/s C. 3 m/s D. 4 m/s E. 5 m/s

9. The graph represents the relationship between velocity and time for an object moving in a straight line. What is
the traveled distance of the object at 9 s?
A. 10 m B. 24 m C. 36 m D. 48 m E. 56 m

The following graph represents the position as a function of time for a moving object. Use this graph to answer
questions 10 and 11.

10. Which of the following is true?

A. The object increases its velocity
B. The object decreases its velocity
C. The object’s velocity stays unchanged
D. The object stays at rest
E. More information is required

11. What is the velocity of the object?

A. 4 m/s B. 20 m/s C. 8 m/s D. 40 m/s E. 5 m/s
 The following graph represents the position as a function of time of a moving object. Use this graph to answer
questions 12 and 13.

12. What is the initial position of the object?

A. 2 m B. 4 m C. 6 m D. 8 m E. 10 m

13. What is the velocity of the object?

A. 2 m/s B. 4 m/s C. 6 m/s D. 8 m/s E. 10 m/s

The following graph represents the position as a function of time of a moving object. Use this graph for
questions 14 and 15.

14. What is the initial position of the object?

A. 2 m B. 4 m C. 6 m D. 8 m E. 10 m

15. What is the velocity of the object?

A. 5 m/s B. -5 m/s C. 10 m/s D. -10 m/s E. 0 m/s

16. Which of the following is a vector quantity?

A. Speed B. Time C. Traveled distance D. Velocity E. Area
17. Starting from the origin, a person walks 6 km east during first day, and 3 km east the next day. What is the net
displacement of the person from the initial point in two days?
A. 6 km, west B. 3 km, east C. 10 km, east D. 5 km, west E. 9 km, east

The diagram above illustrates a person who, starting from the origin, walks 8 km east during first day, and 5 km
west the next day. Use it to answer questions 18 and 19.

18. What is the net displacement of the person from the initial point in two days?
A. 6 km, east B. 3 km, east C. 10 km, west D. 5 km, west E. 9 km, east

19. What is the traveled distance of the person from the initial point in two days?
A. 13 km B. 3 km C. 10 km D. 5 km E. 9 km
 The diagram above illustrates a car that, starting from the origin, travels 4 km east and then 7 km west. Use it to
answer questions 20 and 21.

20. What is the net displacement of the car from the initial point?
A. 3 km, west B. 3 km, east C. 4 km, east D. 7 km, west E. 7 km east

21. Starting from the origin, a car travels 4 km east and then 7 km west. What is the traveled distance of the car
from the initial point?
A. 3 km B. 3 km C. 4 km D. 7 km E. 11 km

22. An object moves with a constant acceleration of 5 m/s2. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The object’s velocity stays the same
B. The object moves 5 m each second
C. The object’s acceleration increases by 5 m/s2 each second
D. The object’s acceleration decreases by 5 m/s2 each second
E. the object’s velocity increases by 5 m/s each second

23. A truck travels east with an increasing velocity. Which of the following is the correct direction of the car’s
acceleration?

A. B. C.

D. E.

24. A motorbike travels east and begins to slow down before a traffic light. Which of the following is the correct
direction of the motorbike’s acceleration?

A. B. C.

D. E.
 25. A race car moving west begins to slow down after crossing a finish line. Which of the following is the correct
direction of the car’s acceleration?

A. B. C.

D. E.

The position vs. time graph of a moving object is shown

to the right. Use this graph to answer questions 26
through 30.
26. What is the average speed from 0 s to 4 s?
A. 0.5 m/s B. 1 m/s C. 2 m/s
D. 3 m/s E. 4 m/s

27. What is the average speed from 4 s to 8 s?

A. 0.5 m/s B. 1 m/s C. 2 m/s D.
3 m/s E. 4 m/s

28. What is the object’s position at 6 s?

A. 2 m B. 1 m C. 3 m
D. 7 m E. 9 m

29. What is the average acceleration from 4 s to 8 s?

A. 0 m/s2 B. 1 m/s2 C. 2 m/s2
2 2
D. 3 m/s E. 4 m/s

30. Which of the following is the velocity vs. time graph?

A. B. C. D.
 E.
31. A car and a delivery truck both start from rest and accelerate at the same rate. However, the car accelerates for
twice the amount of time as the truck. What is the final speed of the car compared to the truck?
A. Half as much
B. The same
C. Twice as much
D. Four times as much
E. One quarter as much

32. A car and a delivery truck both start from rest and accelerate at the same rate.
However, the car accelerates for twice the amount of time as the truck. What is
the traveled distance of the car compared to the truck?
A. Half as much
B. The same
C. Twice as much
D. Four times as much
E. One quarter as much

33. A modern car can develop an acceleration four times greater than an antique
car like “Lanchester 1800”. If they accelerate over the same distance, what
would be the velocity of the modern car compared to the antique car?
A. Half as much
B. The same
C. Twice as much
D. Four times as much
E. One quarter as much

34. An object is released from rest and falls in the absence of air resistance. Which
of the following is true about its motion?
A. Its acceleration is zero
B. Its acceleration is constant
C. Its velocity is constant
D. Its acceleration is increasing
E. Its velocity is decreasing
A ball is thrown straight up from point A, reaches
a maximum height at point B, and then falls back to point C,
as illustrated by the picture to the right. Use this for
questions 35, 36, and 37.
35. Which of the following is true about the direction the ball’s velocity and acceleration between A and B?

A. B. C.

D. E.

36. Which of the following is true about the direction the ball’s velocity and acceleration between B and C?

A. B. C.

D. E.

37. Which of the following is true about the ball’s velocity and acceleration the highest point B?
A. Its velocity and acceleration are both zero
B. Its velocity is up and non-zero constant and acceleration is zero
C.Its velocity is down and non-zero constant and acceleration is zero
D.Its velocity is zero and acceleration is up and non-zero constant
E.Its velocity is zero and acceleration is down and non-zero constant

38. A football, a hockey puck, and a tennis ball all fall down in the
absence of air resistance. Which of the following is true about
their acceleration?
A. The acceleration of the football is greater than the other two
B.The acceleration of the hockey puck is greater than the other
two
C.The acceleration of the tennis ball is greater than the other
two
D. They all fall down with the same constant acceleration
E. More information is required

39. A package is dropped from an air balloon two times. In the

first trial the distance between the balloon and the surface is
H and in the second trial 4H. Compare the time it takes for the
package to reach the surface in the second trial to that in the
first trial?
A. The time in the second trial is four times greater
B. The time in the second trial is two times greater
C. The time the same in both trials because it doesn’t depend
on height
D. The time in the second trial is four times less
E.The time in the second trial is two times less

40. Two baseballs are thrown from the roof of a house with the
same initial speed, one is thrown up, and the other is down.
Compare the speeds of the baseballs just before they hit the ground.
A. The one thrown up moves faster because the initial velocity is up
B. The one thrown down moves faster because the initial velocity is down
 C. They both move with the same speed
D. The one thrown up moves faster because it has greater acceleration
E.The one thrown down moves faster because it has greater acceleration

41. A tennis ball is dropped from the top of a tall building. A second tennis ball
is thrown down from the same building. Make a statement about the
acceleration of each tennis ball.
A. The first ball falls with a greater acceleration
B. The second ball falls with a greater acceleration
C. They both fall with the same acceleration because they stated from the
same height
D. The both fall with the same acceleration because they are in a free fall
E. More information is required

42. An archer practicing with an arrow bow shoots an arrow straight up two
times. The first time the initial speed is v0 and second time he increases the
initial sped to 4v0. How would you compare the maximum height in the
second trial to that in the first trial?
A. Two times greater
B. Four times greater
C. Eight times greater
D. Sixteen times greater
E. The same

The velocity as a function of time of a moving object

is presented by the graph to the right. Use this graph
for questions 43 through 48.

43. What is the acceleration of the object between 0 s

and 2 s?
A. 0 m/s2B.1 m/s2C.2 m/s2
D.3 m/s2E.4m/s2

44. What is the acceleration of the object between 2 s

and 6 s?
A. 0 m/s2B.1 m/s2C.2 m/s2
D.3 m/s2E.4m/s2

45. What is the magnitude of acceleration of the object

between 6 s and 10 s?
A. 0 m/s2B.1 m/s2C.2 m/s2D.3 m/s2E.4m/s2

46. How far from the origin does the object move in first
2 s?
A. 4 mB.16 mC.20 mD.28 mE.36 m

47. How far from the origin does the object move in first 6 s?
A. 4 mB.16 mC.20 mD.28 mE.36 m

48. How far from the origin does the object move in first 10 s?
A. 4 mB.16 mC.20 mD.28 mE.36 m
 The diagram above presents the position and elapsed time of a motorbike that starts from rest and accelerates
at a constant rate. Use it to answer questions 49 and 50.

49. What is the average velocity of the motorbike during first 5 s?

A. 0 m/s B. 5 m/s C. 10 m/s D. 15 m/s E. 20 m/s

50. What is the acceleration of the motorbike?

A. 0 m/s2 B. 2 m/s2 C. 4 m/s2 D. 6 m/s2 E. 8 m/s2

Answers 26. C
1. E 27. A
2. B 28. E
3. C 29. A
4. B 30. B
5. C 31. C
6. D 32. D
7. C 33. C
8. E 34. B
9. C 35. B
10. C 36. D
11. E 37. E
12. B 38. D
13. A 39. B
14. E 40. C
15. B 41. D
16. D 42. D
17. E 43. C
18. B 44. A
19. A 45. B
20. A 46. A
21. E 47. C
22. E 48. D
23. A 49. C
24. D 50. C
25. A